Living in the Light of the Glory of God...

 1 I will sing of mercy and justice;

To You, O LORD, I will sing praises.

2 I will behave wisely in a perfect way.

Oh, when will You come to me?

I will walk within my house with a perfect heart.

3 I will set nothing wicked before my eyes;

I hate the work of those who fall away;

It shall not cling to me.

4 A perverse heart shall depart from me;

I will not know wickedness.

5 Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor,

Him I will destroy;

The one who has a haughty look and a proud heart,

Him I will not endure.

6 My eyes shall be on the faithful of the land,

That they may dwell with me;

He who walks in a perfect way,

He shall serve me.

7 He who works deceit shall not dwell within my house;

He who tells lies shall not continue in my presence.

8 Early I will destroy all the wicked of the land,

That I may cut off all the evildoers from the city of the LORD.—Psalm 101

In verses 1-4 of Psalm 101 David expresses beautifully his personal commitment to live righteously before God and keep His statutes. He speaks further in verses 5-8 about the lives of those who live in his kingdom. I am going to focus on the personal side here.  

I gotta confess that I shy away from speaking with such a firm resolve to live righteously as David does here, because I know that my own miserable reality is failure.  I do want the same things that David desires for himself in these verses, but, no matter how firm my resolve is, “I” fail.  

Here is the thing though...only Jesus fulfilled all of these perfectly. I AM insufficient to the task, but He is not. I CAN do all things through Christ who gives me strength.  I won’t get it perfect on this side of heaven, but each day as I behold the glory of my Lord, I will be transformed a little bit more into His image.  So today...like David does here...I will purpose in my heart to live perfectly before the Lord my God. He will perform my vow for me and perfect what concerns me.  

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.—2 Corinthians 3:18

A Legacy...

For we have great joy and consolation in your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed by you, brother.--Philemon 1:7

I sooooo want to be like Philemon. my mind off me and my problems and my focus on walking rightly with my God and being a blessing to those He has placed in front of me. 

What a statement Paul makes here about who Philemon was. He is a refresher of the saints. He is one who has encouraged the hearts of others by his love. He has given them not just joy and consolation but much joy and consolation. People who are suffering, afflicted, in trouble, and struggling have found him (Philemon) to be a blessing!! Philemon brought hurting people rest...His care and service for them refreshed their hearts and brought them solace.

Philemon was a man of kindness..the kind of man that was a blessing to those who were around him. The kind of many whom others wanted to be around. If I am going to leave any kind of mark on this world or legacy for my God that is the one I would want.

"Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; 13 bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. 14 But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. 15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. 17 And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him."--Colossians 3:12-17